Sudden loss of power at idle and while accelerating

[DRAGON JOEY]

Alright guys, I'm going crazy with my car, I was driving and all of a sudden my car loss all it's power, at idle and it wouldn't even accelerate past 2700 RPMs. So I got home checked and replaced my plugs and nothing. I then checked my timing and it's perfect. Checked compression and have 180 in each cylinder. Replaced cap, rotor and wires, still same problem. Changed distributor for one on my other cb which runs perfectly fine and still same problem. I changed the head and head gasket since I noticed it was leaking oil through the headers, dont know why, still has the same problem. I replaced the fuel injector resistor box and still no change. I thought it could maybe be my cat but when I did the head swap I took advantage of the fact that I loosened the downpipe and it still had the same problem. The only thing I have not swapped nor replaced is my O2 sensor, but I dont know if that could be my problem. Oh another thing I noticed is that the spark on three of my cylinders is not too strong, the spark on cylinder 4 is VERY powerful but on the other three extremely weak, can that be my problem and what could be causing this?

Well I really need to get my car started ASAP since I was forced to move from my home and the landlord is on my ass to get it out or he'll get it impounded. Please help and thanks in advance for all the help...

[deevergote]

Is your CEL on? That would possibly account for a loss of power and a low RPM limit.

I don't quite know what you mean by a loss of power at idle...


Are you sure your spark plug wires are in the correct order? Does it idle smoothly? Incorrect firing order will certainly make it idle oddly, and accelerate poorly. I would assume that if you're competent enough to do a head swap and a compression check that you'd know to check the firing order... but we all make dumb mistakes from time to time!
Also, are your plug wires new? If your other CB runs properly (and has the same engine), try using the wires from that.

Are you blowing any smoke at all? You mentioned the head gasket had some leaking issues. If you're getting coolant in the combustion chamer, that would cut power considerably (though not limit the RPM to 2700...)

Also, are all your ground connections clean and tight? Battery connections? Are all ground and power wires in good condition?

How about your valve timing? You swapped on the head, did you make sure the valve timing was set properly? The TDC mark was aligned on the cam gear and crank pulley... and the correct cylinder was at TDC? (I'm assuming #1, but I've never dealt with this firsthand, so I don't want to give false information...)

[DRAGON JOEY]

Is your CEL on? That would possibly account for a loss of power and a low RPM limit.

I don't quite know what you mean by a loss of power at idle...


Are you sure your spark plug wires are in the correct order? Does it idle smoothly? Incorrect firing order will certainly make it idle oddly, and accelerate poorly. I would assume that if you're competent enough to do a head swap and a compression check that you'd know to check the firing order... but we all make dumb mistakes from time to time!
Also, are your plug wires new? If your other CB runs properly (and has the same engine), try using the wires from that.

Are you blowing any smoke at all? You mentioned the head gasket had some leaking issues. If you're getting coolant in the combustion chamer, that would cut power considerably (though not limit the RPM to 2700...)

Also, are all your ground connections clean and tight? Battery connections? Are all ground and power wires in good condition?

How about your valve timing? You swapped on the head, did you make sure the valve timing was set properly? The TDC mark was aligned on the cam gear and crank pulley... and the correct cylinder was at TDC? (I'm assuming #1, but I've never dealt with this firsthand, so I don't want to give false information...)

In regards to the CEL codes, no I dont have any codes. In regards to the wires they were purchased new, the loss of power at idle is that unless I'm accelerating the car wont stay on. It has VERY BAD idle. It kind of feels like if it was misfiring but cant really say it is. I did check my firing order and it is as it should. My timing was aligned as it should also. I haven't checked my grounds but if it's that I will hit myself...lol... No smoking.

[deevergote]

With no CEL and functional ignition components, the valve timing seems to be the most likely culprit. It might be worth the effort to pull the valve cover to double check that.

The weak spark in 3 cylinders has me wondering... if the distributor is known to be good, the wires are new, and the rest of the components are as they should be, the ONLY thing I can think of that could cause that would be a bad ground or battery connection. It's possible that there just isn't enough power getting to the plugs.
I assume the ignitor and coil are known to be good (or new), right?

If the spark issue isn't the problem, then perhaps it's fuel. It's running, so obviously fuel is getting to the engine... but perhaps not enough, or not at the right time. Check the resistance at the injectors, and check (or replace) the injector resistor box. Since you have another working CB, you have the luxury of swapping over known working parts.

Two other things to check... 1, make sure the ECU itself is good, and 2, make sure your CEL is functional (it should turn on briefly when you turn on the car.) Occasionally, "no CEL" ends up being due to a blown bulb, rather than a lack of error codes.

[evil_demon_01]

Check your fuel pressure, and replace the fuel filter, Since you didn't mention that.

I agree with Mike that the problem sounds like a timing issue.
Except for the fact you said this happened suddenly while you were driving and you have since had the head off to do the headgasket and reset the timing.

Does it rev over 2700rpm while in neutral?
Does it run good up to 2700rpm, Or does it run rough and misfire?

Is it auto? If so, is there any TCU codes?

[DRAGON JOEY]

Check your fuel pressure, and replace the fuel filter, Since you didn't mention that.

I agree with Mike that the problem sounds like a timing issue.
Except for the fact you said this happened suddenly while you were driving and you have since had the head off to do the headgasket and reset the timing.

Does it rev over 2700rpm while in neutral?
Does it run good up to 2700rpm, Or does it run rough and misfire?

Is it auto? If so, is there any TCU codes?

Sorry for not mentioning that but yes, I did replace the fuel filter since in the past I did have a similar problem and it ended up being the filter but it didn't do any changes. Yes, it revs over 2700 in neutral but it takes forever, and when it does it only makes it to about 5200, and no it doesn't run good to 2700 as mentioned above it takes forever to get there, and no it's not auto, anymore...

Deev, I'll check my CEL to see if it's activating when I turn the switch or not. I did notice that my battery was suddenly dying out on me, like if something was consuming power while the car was off, cause I would turn the car off with 12.5 v and the next morning it would only have 11.2-11.5v, any ideas? And can a bad battery be doing this to me? Thanks guys.

[djcaz_aom]

Ecu?

[deevergote]

Sorry for not mentioning that but yes, I did replace the fuel filter since in the past I did have a similar problem and it ended up being the filter but it didn't do any changes. Yes, it revs over 2700 in neutral but it takes forever, and when it does it only makes it to about 5200, and no it doesn't run good to 2700 as mentioned above it takes forever to get there, and no it's not auto, anymore...

Deev, I'll check my CEL to see if it's activating when I turn the switch or not. I did notice that my battery was suddenly dying out on me, like if something was consuming power while the car was off, cause I would turn the car off with 12.5 v and the next morning it would only have 11.2-11.5v, any ideas? And can a bad battery be doing this to me? Thanks guys.

A dead battery wouldn't, but a weak connection to it could.


Pull the valve cover and check the timing. It's possible that the timing belt skipped a tooth.

[DRAGON JOEY]

Alright guys I tried replacing my ecu and also checked if my tps was set correctly, but unfortunately I didn't get any improvements. What was strange though were two things: 1. I replaced my coil although I was aware that it was new and I did get some inprovement, the car stayed on while in idle although rough and it actually revved to 7200, and 2. this was the strangest, after I put my ecu back on I got a code 10, but only immediately after plugging it in, and after the first on/off/on , then it stopped coming on so now I'm even more freaked out with my car...

Please help I dont know what else to check...

[AnonymousCB7]

question to all of those who replied to this guy i just did an h22a swap in my car me and phantomcb7 did it im having almost the same problem now pretty much everything was taken off of the f22a and placed on the h22 like alternator tranny axels and stuff i have an remapped ecu for the h22 its chipped i have a perfect idle stays right at 800-900 but sometimes lopes up to 1300-1400 but than drops down to 900 again but my problem is loss of power when accelerating and it boggs kinda almost as if there is a vacuum leak somewhere but the thing is, is that all the hoses are connected to the spots where there suppose to go at least i think i talked to my mechanic buddy he said that theres a possibility its my running the engine with and open header and no downpipe with back pressure or it could be the fact that in the 92-96 h22a's the prelude had a bigger fuel pump and my fuel pump wasnt giving the enging enough fuel to run correctly can anyone help me with this problem i just would like to know the possible causes of crappy acceleration with my h22

[dbsharp]

you shouldn't be having weak spark on 3 and strong spark on 1. You need to trace that problem to its root. Make sure your grounds are properly attached, you need to double check the one on the thermostat, its for your ecu and many other major components of the engine management system..

[EJX_Michael]

Have you checked your timing yet?

What you describe sounds exactly like the timing belt is off a tooth.

To the other guy, check your timing too. H22 timing is really easy to mess up...

[AnonymousCB7]

Yeah the funny thing is. Is me and my buddy phantom did the timing and everything WAS or LOOKED like perfection absolutely straight although idk and it could be what about the distributor being 180 out?

[DRAGON JOEY]

Update

Alright guys just so you all are aware of what my problem was, after all the times I checked the timing, the ignition system, the plugs, the wires, heck almost everything in the motor, I decided I was going to drive the car around with the misfire for a while to check if the ECU gave me a code. I drove the car for a week to and from work, 'around 25 miles round trip', frustrated with the fact that it wouldn't go faster than 35 mph, the ECU finally gave code 43, so I decided I would start by troubleshooting as instructed in the Haynes Manual. So before I started I went to the Pick & Pull, I got some stock fuel injectors, stock fuel regulators, injector resistor boxes, a fuel pump off a 2002 Acura RL, the fuel regulator off a 2000 Accord V6, and the injectors off the same Accord. I took them home and before troubleshooting I went ahead and replaced my regulator for the V6 regulator and got a very slight improvement, then replaced the resistor box but no improvement there, so I went ahead and swapped on the V6 injectors and started the car. To my surprise, my baby started right up as if it never even had any problems. Conclusion, apparently my problem was one or all of my injectors.

To all of you out there that gave advice and options, thanks.

MY BABY IS ALIVE!!!!!! LOL

[BLUBB2]

How big are the v6 injectors and aren't they saturated injectors?